Tree moving device



L. F WILKINSON TREE novum nEvIcE Filed Aug. 1e, v193'? vSgm. 19, 1939.

mentes Isape 1a im .y 2,173,406

UNITED -sTTEs PATENT OFFICE Lowel F. Wilkinson, Harlingen, Tex.,assignor to La Plante-C1105@ Mllllfctlll'lll- C0., 1110.,

Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a corporationwof Delaware u Applicaties August 16,19st,` seriales. 159,358!

One `object of my invention is to provide 4an earth moving deviceparticularly adaptedffor 'up-1 rooting trees and bushes from the earth',the device being readily attachable to a tractor or the jack structures.f* 1 A Figure 4 is a diagrammatic `view 'showingfan oil pump and`control valves for ,thev hydraulic jacks for adjusting 'the treedozerblade; and

`bulldozer blade' and the wijnen/ I. Y

` Figure 5 is a 'partial side felevationshowing a modiiled construction.

On the accompanying drawings, I have used I thelreference numeral"l toindicate a track of a support pivot pins 4U and treedozler push arms 42.Thearms 42'are bent to form anobtuse angle as illustrated in Figure 2 sothat they may extend up over the bulldozerblade 24 yet havetheir frontends terminate'adjacent the ground. Reinforcing like for propulsionthereby and being comparatrack laying type of tractor. One'of the tracky5 tively simpleto construct. I f -frames thereof is indicated at' I2 andone oi the' Another` object is'to provide an attachment for forwardsprockets of the track is indicated at I4.

a -tractor which includes a lower bulldozer-like The'radiatorofthetractor is shown at I 5V. u

blade for engaging roots and pulling them-out `of A bracket I6` isprovided for `each, sideyof the 10 the Vground and an upper bumperbarwhich tractor. AThe brackets I6` are permanently atw might be termed atreedozer and whichfis 'adapt-` tached to the4 side frames I2, therebeing" oney able Vfor engaging a tree for pushing it over and bracketfor each side of the tractorA andfone of vthereby extractingthe portionsof its roots adjathem'being omitted from Figure 1.v The brackets cent.the base of the treefrom the ground so that I6 are provided withtubular studs I8 onwwhich they can beengaged by the bulldozer blade andare DiVOted bearing jaws 20- These JaWS are 15 either cut off or pulledfrom the ground bythe fastened as by welding to the rear'ends' of armsbulldozer blade.` I l 22. Jawpins 23 normallyvretain the jaws 20 inAnother object is to mount the tree bumper bar position buty permit"ready removal .of the side i so that it is carried bythe frame of thebulldozer arms 22 fromv the tractor when desired. This is blade andthereby the entire apparatus is unitary particularly forv the purpose ofpermitting the 20 in character to facilitateattachment and detachpresentdevice te be quicklyA detached from the ment of the unit relative Ltoa-tractor. tractor and permit other devices vsuch as -snow Still afurther object is` to provide a simple plows, road builders and the-liketo be substituted y mechanism for `adjusting the height of thebullinplace thereof. y

25 dozer or root engaging blade relative to the A Secured to theforwardv ends of the side armsv 25 ground over which thetract'or travelsand to alsov 22 iS a blllldOZer blade 24. l This blade comprises adjustthe treedozer so that it can selectivelyenpreferably, a pair of Vbladeelements arranged te gage the trunk of a tree either adjacent its baseform a V as Shown inFigure land a third blade at any desired pointspaced thereabove and withelement 24a `spanningthe front end s so thatvthe in the limits ofits adjustment, thus making the V-Shaped blade isthus PIOVidd With blunt-130 device adaptable for .uprooting bushes ortrees of nose. The' blades 24 are provided with reinforcediilerentsizes. y ments 26 to which'the'forward ends ofthe side With these andother objects in view, my inor push arms 22 are welded.ventionconsistsin the construction, arrangement .Detachable hardenedycutting blades 28 and 23d and combination of the various parts of myearth are Vsecured to the forwadedges of the blades'24 35 gmovingdevice,` whereby the objects contemplated and 24a. A shoe y:I0 is'preferably provided, just `are attained, as hereinafter more fully setforth,r back of the blade 28a, for the purpose of pre-- pointed out inmy claims, and illustrated inthe venting undesirable gouging of theblades 28 accompanying drawings, in which:w f J andv28a into the ground.Y 40 Figure l is a plan view of my apparatus iilu's- Bracket plates 32are secured to the track 40 trating its relation to the front end of Vatractor frames I2 andiextendfupwardly therefrom. The on which a pump ismounted forfspply'ing oil arms 22 are provided'with rollers-34 to bearthere-- under pressure to hydraulic jacks whichlare `in` againstffor thepurposeof permitting the bull,- cluded as a part ofthe apparatus. Adozer blade 24 to be raised and lowered durings Figure 2 is a side viewof the apparatus showoperation as required, yet undesirable lateral ingthe forward end of the tractor in dot and strains are eliminated yorcounter-acted by the dash lines. n Y rollers34 bearing against Atheplates 32.'v

Figure 3 is a view on the line 3}3rof ligurel 1 Bracket plates 36 andl38 are welded vto the showing a side elevation* of part of one ofthearins22 and extend upwardly therefrom. These 5o webs 44 are provided forpreventing any undesired bending of these arms during operation.

A pusher bar 46 of triangular cross section is welded to the forwardends of the arms 42 and extends laterally of the tractor.` The bar 46may be provided with a detachable blade 48 preferably of hardened metalso that it can withstand considerable wear during use. The bar 46 isreinforced against bowing by. diagonal brace members 50. Duringoperation, it is desirable to adjust the height of the bulldozer blade24. I provide for accomplishing this by using a pair of hydraulic jackstructures to raise and lower the blade relative to the tractor asdesired. The jacks are indicated at 52. They are pivotally mounted bypivot pins 54 on the bracket plates 32 and companion bracket plates 56.The bracket plates 56 are also secured to the track frames I2 of'thetractor as indicated in Figure 1.` j-

Each hydraulic jack 52 has a piston rod 58 pivoted at its lower ends asshown in Figure 3 zto a bell crank arm 60. The bell crank arm is pivotedon a pin 58 supported by the bracket plates 52 and 56. Link connections62 are provided between each bell crank arm and a bracket 64 extendingfrom the back of the` blade 24. Obviously the blade may be raised-bysupplying oil pressure tothe rear kends of the jacks 52 or lowered bysupplying oil tothe front ends` thereof aswillhereinafter be describedin. connection with the description ofFigure `4. Itis also desirable toadjust the height of the treedozer blade 46.' AThis blade may benonadjustable if desired but is preferably adjustable by being pivotedat 48 and moved by hydraulic jacks 68. The jacks 68 have their lowerends pivoted at 1I to brackets 66 Son the back of the-bulldozer blade 24and piston rods 10 extend from their upper ends. 'Ihe piston rods 18 arepivoted by pins 14 to brackets 12. vThe brackets 12 are welded to thetreedozer push arms 42. As shown by dotted lines in Figure 2,` the jacks68 may be extended for raisingV the treedozer blade.

I have ,just described the preferred form of mechanism ior adjusting thetreedozer blade relative. to the bulldozer blade. With such mechanism,the two blades are adjusted simultaneously by the jacks 52. Additionaladjustment for the treedozer blade relative tothe bulldozer blade islsecuredby adjusting the jacks 68. During actual operations, thebulldozer Vblade need not be raisedv morethan 18 or,- 20 inches Labovethe ground and should be capableof lowering as much as 6 or 8 inchesbelow the ground to take care Aof unevenness of the contour ofthe groundlover which the tractor travels. Ordinarily the `best position for theblade 28 is closely adjacent the ground surface;

An alternative arrangement for adjusting the elevation of the treedozerbladeis shown in Fig- .ure 5, in Vwhich some parts are similar tothosepivoted at Nato abracket 12a. 'I'he bracket 12a` extendsdownwardly to apush arm 42 instead of upwardly therefrom. yThe hydraulic jack 68ather'eby serves as an adjustable yconnection between the tractor and thepush ann 42 instead of between the push arms `22 and 42 as in Figure 2.v

Referring toFigure `4, the hydraulic system is shown. A pump for oil o rthe like is illustrated" at 16. pump as shown in Figure l is mountedv onthe forward endof themtractor and is .driven from the motor thereof in aconventional manner. Control valves A and B are provided and there is areservoir R for the oil. The control -valves A and B are of the four Waytype, having control passageways 18 for by-passing the oil when thevalves are turned to their off position as shown. The valve A isconnected by conduits 80 and 82 to the jacks52. The forward end of onejack is connected to the rearward end of the other jack by a conduit 84.This arrangement insures synchronous movement of the jacks so that bothsides of the bulldozer 24 will be raised or lowered simultaneouslywithout twisting of the frame. K

Similarly the control valve B is connected by conduits80aand'82q to thejacks 68, a conduit 84a being provided to connect the two jacks togetherin series. The valves A and B can be turned a removed. Hence it isdesirable to push the trees and brush over so as to atleast partiallyexpose their roots and then tofengage and pull the roots out of-theground preparatory to burning them. 'I'his is readily accomplished by mydevice in which the pusher bar or treedozer blade 46 may be readilyraised or lowered-to meet the requirements of brush and trees ofdifferent heights. As the tractor advances, the trees and brush arepushed over and partially uprooted due to the bumper bar.` 46 beingabove and forwardly ofthe bulldozer blade` 24. .After being so pushedand partially uprooted, :the blades 28 and 28a engage the roots and' inmost instances removethem completely from the ground as the blades biteinto them. Thus the tractor is able to. pull them out of* the groundwhileat the same time, the bumper bar 46, by pushing the trees and brushover, aids inthe root extracting' operation. In actual practice, I havefound that, as much as 25 acres of brush land perday. can be cleared'by'a machine of the characterdisclosed.

kThe blade 28a provides greater clearance for the bumper bar. 46 andalso eliminates the cutting edges 28 coming to a sharp point. f Theangularity of the blades 24eectively casts the roots and ,trees aside asthe tractor advances whereupon they maybe readily piled for burning.

Some changes may bemade in the arrangement and construction of thevvarious parts of mythe real spirit and purpose of my invention, andv itismy'intention to cover by my claims; any modified forms ofstructureoruse of mechanical equivalents,V which may b e reasonably includedwithin their scope. l l i I claim as my invention:

l. In a tractor attachment of the character described, a root engagingmember, means for mounting said root engaging member on a tractor or thelike, a'. tree engaging member,lmeans for mounting. saidl tree engagingmember on said tractor rin a position above said root engaging memberand` means for adjusting the heightpf said tree engaging member relativeto said root engaging member while the root and tree engaging membersare in operation.

2. In combination, a bulldozer blade, means for mounting said bulldozerblade on a tractor or the like, means for adjusting the ,elevationthereof relative to the ground overwhich said tractor travels, a treeengaging member, means for mounting said tree engaging member on saidtractor in position above said bulldozer blade and means for adjustingthe height of said tree engaging member relative to said bully dozerblade.

3. In a device of the class described, a pair of arms having their rearends connected to a tractor or the like, a bulldozer blade carried bythe forward ends of said arms, a second pair of arms having their rearends connected to said rst arms, a treedozer element mounted. on theforward ends of said second arms, said second arms extending over saidbulldozer blade and said treedozer element being positioned ahead ofsaid bulldozer blade.

4. In a device of the class described, a pair of arms having their rearends connected to a tractor or the like, a bulldozer blade carried bythe forward ends of said arms, a second pair of arms having their rearends pivotally connected to said first arms, means for relativelyadjusting said rst and second arms and a treedozer element mounted onthe forward ends of said second arms.

5. In combination with a bulldozer mounted on a tractor or the like, apair of arms having their rear ends pivotally connected to saidbulldozer, means for adjusting said arms relative to said bulldozer and`a. treedozer element mounted on the forward ends of said arms and aheadof said bulldozer.

6. In a device of the class described, a pair of arms having their rearends connected to a tractor or the like, a bulldozer blade carried by nthe forward ends of said arms, a second pair of arms having their rear`ends pivotally con- 'nected to said rst arms, means kfor relativelyadjusting said irst and second arms and a treedozer element mounted ontheA forward ends of said second arms, the means for relativelyadjusting said arms comprising hydraulic jack connections between thearms.

7. In a device of the class described, a pair of arms having their rearends connected` to a tractor or the like, a bulldozer blade carried bythe forward ends of said arms, a second pair of arms having their rearends pivotally connected to said first arms, means for adjusting saidsec-- ond arms relative to said bulldozer blade and a treedozer elementmounted on the forward ends of said second arms, the means forrelatively adjusting said arms comprising brackets mounted on saidtractor and hydraulic jack connections between said brackets and saidsecond arms.

8. In a device for uprooting trees and the like, an element forengagingand pushing trees over, means for mounting said element on a tractor forpropulsion thereby, and a root engaging element carried by the tractorand Operable to engage Ythe roots of a tree after they are partiallyextracted from the ground by said rst element engaging and pushing thetree over and means for relatively adjusting said elements while thedevice is in operation.

9. In a device for uprooting trees and the like, an element for engagingand pushing trees over, means for mounting said element on a tractor forpropulsion thereby, and a root engaging element carried by the tractorand operable to engage the roots of a tree after they are partiallyextracted from the ground by said rst element engaging and pushing thetree over, said first element being variable in elevation relative tosaid root engaging member during operation of said device to engage thetree adjacent the ground or at selected points spaced thereabove.

10. In a device for uprootingtrees and the like, an element for engagingand pushing trees over, means for mounting said element on a tractor forpropulsion thereby, and a root engaging element carried by the tractorand operable to engage the'roots of a tree `after they are partiallyextracted from the ground by said first element engaging and pushing thetree over, said root engaging member comprising a V- shaped bulldozerblade having a blunt nose for engaging the roots at right angles to theline of travel of, the tractor and angularly arranged wings extendingbackwardly and rearwardly` from said blunt nose.

LOWEL F. WILmNSON.

